Turktrade pessimistic on export contraction
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Anatolia News Agency
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 06, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - Companies that are members of the Foreign Trade Association of Turkey, or Turktrade, said they have a pessimistic outlook for the near future. Turktrade members implement 35 percent of Turkey’s entire exports.
Turktrade had primarily forecasted that export would contract 20 percent due to the global economic crisis but recently the association changed its forecast and said the export industry would most likely contract by 30 percent.
This year's exports are expected to be worth $80 billion to $85 billion, according to Serdar Koçtürk, Turktrade chairman. Turktrade's expectations are far more pessimistic compared to the government’s forecast for the year. State Minister Kürşad Tüzmen warned earlier that exports was expected to decline 17 percent this year, while import was expected to drop 25 percent. According to Tüzmen’s forecast, Turkey’s export this year was expected to be around $100 million.
When the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, said it expected to see a 2 percent growth in the global economy this year, Turktrade forecasted a 20 percent drop in Turkey’s exports. Then the IMF changed its outlook and said it foresaw only a 1 percent growth for the global economy. That announcement caused Turktrade to revise its calculations and assume the worse, said Koçtürk. "Based on recent developments and the current status of the global economy, we expect the growth to be much smaller," said Koçtürk.
"There will a $35 billion to $40 billion decline in exports. We expect this year’s exports to total $80 billion to $85 billion. Due to the decline in exports, the country will experience some serious drops in output and capacity utilization. That will certainly reflect on employment and taxes, creating heavy burdens. In order to prevent grave losses in tax and employment systems, the government should take preventive measures to revive the domestic market as soon as possible. And the number of public investments should be increased," said Koçtürk.
This year's exports are expected to be worth $80 billion to $85 billion, according to Serdar Koçtürk, Turktrade chairman. Turktrade's expectations are far more pessimistic compared to the government’s forecast for the year. State Minister Kürşad Tüzmen warned earlier that exports was expected to decline 17 percent this year, while import was expected to drop 25 percent. According to Tüzmen’s forecast, Turkey’s export this year was expected to be around $100 million.
When the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, said it expected to see a 2 percent growth in the global economy this year, Turktrade forecasted a 20 percent drop in Turkey’s exports. Then the IMF changed its outlook and said it foresaw only a 1 percent growth for the global economy. That announcement caused Turktrade to revise its calculations and assume the worse, said Koçtürk. "Based on recent developments and the current status of the global economy, we expect the growth to be much smaller," said Koçtürk.
"There will a $35 billion to $40 billion decline in exports. We expect this year’s exports to total $80 billion to $85 billion. Due to the decline in exports, the country will experience some serious drops in output and capacity utilization. That will certainly reflect on employment and taxes, creating heavy burdens. In order to prevent grave losses in tax and employment systems, the government should take preventive measures to revive the domestic market as soon as possible. And the number of public investments should be increased," said Koçtürk.